EDUCATING THE YOUNG TO FIGHT ISIS

2015-Jul-01 By Jay Dejaresco

The Ambassador of Iran to the Philippines, H.E. Ali Asghar Mohammadi has stressed that education for the young is the most potent arm to fight the world deadliest terrorist group called the ISIS or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Ambassador Mohammadi was guest in a roundtable discussion on the ISIS initiated by the Pimentel Institute for Leadership and Governance last June 10, 2015 at the PILG headquarters at the AHI Building along Bonifacio Street, Barangay Bangkal, Makati City

ISIS is propagating a universal ideology call “Caliphate” that resonates to people around the world enabling them recruit just about anybody, he explained

He explained that a Caliphate promotes a borderless movement that can span across different territories.

The universality of the ideology that ISIS promotes is a real cause of concern, even for far-away countries like the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, Mohammadi said.

There is a possibility that this ideology might infiltrate the Philippines in the future, he warned.

To fight this ideology, Iran’s ambassador to the Philippines governments must invest in educating the young.

Education of young children aged five and six years must be focused on fighting the ideology espoused by ISIS terrorists.

But he stressed there is no immediate solution in sight to stop the ISIS.

He also stressed that one of the first steps to curb the growth of terrorism is to establish a strong government, he stressed.

Weak governments are attractive grounds for terrorists to invade, he explained.

It is the duty and responsibility of all Islamic countries to promote the brighter side of Islam.

With the acts of terror conducted by ISIS worldwide, the image of Islam has been tarnished, he said.

What these terrorists and radical groups are doing is not what Islam promotes because Islam is a religion of peace, he said.

While he acknowledged that even Islamic countries are having differences in policies they cannot differ in efforts to promote Islam as a religion of peace.

The political strategy against terrorists in the region is more complicated because it entails cooperation between countries who are, politically at odds with each other, he said.

He added that other nations forming coalitions to stamp out the ISIS have their own respective agendas.

He acknowledged that Iran and the United States now have a common enemy in the ISIS.

But he said the approach in strategy between the two countries is different.

He said there appears no real commitment from Western alliances to stamp out terrorism in the area.

This has made Iran very suspicious about the goals of Western countries in the Middle East.

Mohammadi noted that ISIS has grown to become the wealthiest terrorist group in the world.

It’s troops attacks oil fields and sell oil at cheap prices, he said

He recalled that ISIS forces raided banks of hundreds of millions of dollars, to fund its growing legion of armed supporters.

The conflicting interests of many states in the region contributed to the instability that served as fertile ground for the sprouting of these terrorists.

In order to stop these outlaws, the states in the region must cooperate and coordinate with each other he said.